By Kara Machowski
Anyone else feel like lately our society is living in one big episode of a Matt Groening version of the Twilight Zone? The Simpsons have already predicted the electoral race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the Trump presidency, the Sigfreid and Roy tiger attack, the 2014 Ebola outbreak and Lady Gaga flying over the Houston Super Bowl crowd attached to wires. In the episode, “When You Dish Upon A Star,” The Simpsons joked that 20th Century Fox was now “A Division of Walt Disney Co.” Well, now Disney acquired rights to 20th Century Fox Film and Television studios for $71 billion dollars.
With the merger that was completed late Tuesday night Disney will own the FX stable of networks, National Geographic, and the Fox-related cable and international TV businesses. In the acquisition they also gained Fox's Marvel characters Disney also owns over half the rights to Hulu since they already had 30 percent stake and Fox had another 30. The acquisition does not include Fox News, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports, the Big Ten Network or the Fox broadcasting network.
What Does That Mean for the Future of Fox Programs and Streaming
Disney has already confirmed that they will be ending their deal with Netflix streaming and are planning on launching their own subscription platform later this year. With the merger, Disney also attained the rights to X-Men, Marvel and Star Wars while Ryan Reynolds tweeted a photo of Deadpool with Mickey ears on. While it is rumored that Disney's streaming service will hold the entire Disney Vault of movies, Hulu is said to contain the more edgier material. The question is where certain movies will fall within those two categories. Will movies overlap on the the two streaming services? For instance, will Disney+ house the family friendly version of Deadpool, Once Upon a Deadpool while Hulu streams the Rated-R versions? Apple is said to release its own streaming service which will compete with Netflix, Hulu and now Disney+.
Disney will be keeping the Rated-R chain of Deadpool though. They don't plan on censoring the already existing series and are planning a Marvel movie next year, which one wonders where they will sway on the rating scale. While Wolverine, Deadpool, Professor X, Storm, Spider Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, the Silver Surfer, are all celebrating their family reunion, it is rumored that the acquisition will result anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 layoffs.
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